This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement.

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please contact reproductions@brooklynmuseum.org (charges apply).

The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act.

The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals.

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Handscroll depicting insects and frogs engaged in humorous or unusual activities, the handscroll combines skillful brushwork in ink with exquisite renderings of floral designs and delicate paper decoration. Accompanying the amusing images are inscriptions which draw from a wide range of sources including Henry Walden Thoreau (1817-1862) and Walt Whitman (1819-1892).
The subject matter may be regarded as a continuation of the tradition associated with the satirical representations observed in the well-known Heian Period handscroll, "Choju Giga (Anumal Caricatures)," a fragment of which is presently on long-term loan (L55.12) to the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The lacquer detailing is also reminiscent of the 18th century individualist Itoh Jakuchu who often used insects and flowers made to parody of Buddhist subjects. Stylistic reference are made to other painting traditions and serve to make the handscroll interesting from art historian perspective.
The recent research of Japanese scholar, Tanaka Atsushi (Bunkazai Ken Kyucho) has focused new attention on the artist. Born in Niigata prefecture, Kawakami's career as artist was centered in Tokyo; his last years were spent in Nakano, on the outskirts of Tokyo. The surviving eighteen works by the artist are primarily oil paintings of subjects from nature painted in a western-influenced post-impressionist style, most of which are recorded in a 1932 retrospective exhibition catalog. The BMA handscroll, however, is considered especially important because it is the only extant work painted in traditional Japanese style, and it is not included in the 1932 catalog.
Painting arrived with its original wooden storage box, on which an inscription by Saito Yori (1885-1959), was written.
Box Inscription:
Outside of the Cover:
1) "Yasei no Tomo" ("Wildlife Friends" -Title of Scroll) 2) "Ryoko Sensei Hitsu" ("Executed by Teacher Ryoka")
Inside the Cover:
1) "Bijutsu Shinron kugatsu-go sessaku gisaku "Reika Sensei" chu mushi wo shasei suru kudari ari sunawachi kono ikkan nari" (The painting of insects in the play, which I wrote and was published in "Bijutsu Shinron" September 1927, is this very scroll)" 2) Signed: yori, Dated: Shiwasu, the third year of Showa (December 1928)

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.